‘It’s Life or Death’: The Mental Health Crisis Among U.S. Teens

How Matt Richtel spoke to adolescents and their parents for this series

In mid-April, I was speaking to the mother of a suicidal teenager whose struggles I’ve been closely following. I asked how her daughter was doing.

Not well, the mother said: “If we can’t find something drastic to help this kid, this kid will not be here long term.” She started to cry. “It’s out of our hands, it’s out of our control,” she said. “We’re trying everything.”

She added: “It’s like waiting for the end.”

Over nearly 18 months of reporting, I got to know many adolescents and their families and interviewed dozens of doctors,…